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95-515: Izium has a population of 44,979 (2022 estimate), making it the second-most populous city in Kharkiv Oblast behind Kharkiv proper. It has held economic significance for centuries due to its position as a transportation link between Kharkiv and the Donbas region to the southeast. The area around Izium has been periodically inhabited since ancient times, but the modern city has its origins in

190-537: A " Soviet identity ". Roman Horbyk of Södertörn University wrote that in the 20th century, "[a]s peasants from all surrounding regions were flooding its then busy mines and plants on the border of ethnically Ukrainian and Russian territories", "incomplete and archaic institutions" prevented Donbas residents from "acquiring a notably strong modern urban – and also national – new identity". Kharkiv Sloboda Cossack Regiment The Kharkiv Sloboda Cossack Regiment ( Ukrainian : Харківський слобідський козацький полк )

285-507: A 17th-century fortress defending against Tatar raids. Izium was the site of several battles during World War II , but still grew rapidly during the 20th century due to its importance as a transport hub. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine , Russian forces occupied the city in April 2022 after a battle that destroyed much of the city. However, the city was recaptured by Ukrainian forces in

380-684: A federative South-Eastern state with its capital in Kharkiv . Donetsk Mayor Oleksandr Lukyanchenko , however, stated that no one wanted autonomy, but rather sought to stop the Orange Revolution demonstrations going on at the time in Kyiv and negotiate a compromise. After the Orange Revolution's victory, some of the organisers of the congress were charged with "encroachment upon the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine", but no convictions were made. In other parts of Ukraine during

475-557: A fortress named Izium was built by the Kharkiv Sloboda Cossack Regiment within a small settlement on the location of Izium. This is generally regarded as the foundation date of Izium. The origin of the name "Izium" is uncertain. It may originate from a Turkic-language word "huzun", meaning "a crossing", or from the Mokryi Iziumets  [ uk ] (also simply Iziumets) river that the city

570-469: A judge, an osavul , a khorunzhy , a two chancellors. The regiment was divided into sotnias . Sotnia is an administrative unit within the regiment. A Sotnia was headed by a sotnik . He was endowed with extensive military, administrative, judicial and financial powers. Originally elected by the Cossacks of the sotnia, later he was chosen by a sotnia starshina and was confirmed by the colonels from among

665-552: A new, full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, which Russian president Vladimir Putin said was intended to "protect" the people of the Donbas from the "abuse" and "genocide" of the Ukrainian government. However, Putin's claims have been refuted. The DPR and LPR joined Russia's operation; the separatists stated that an operation to capture the entirety of Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast had begun. On 18 April 2022,

760-665: A short time with the help of its German and Austro-Hungarian allies. During the 1917–22 Russian Civil War , Nestor Makhno , who commanded the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine , was the most popular leader in the Donbas. Along with other territories inhabited by Ukrainians, the Donbas was incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the aftermath of the Russian Civil War. Cossacks in

855-438: A significant presence in the Donbas, particularly in the district of Mariupol , where they constituted 36.7% of the population. Despite this, Russians constituted the majority of the industrial workforce. Ukrainians dominated rural areas, but cities were often inhabited solely by Russians who had come seeking work in the region's heavy industries. Those Ukrainians who did move to the cities for work were quickly assimilated into

950-526: A squad to Izium, but this was defeated by the Tsarist authorities, and the rebellion overall ended in defeat. In 1708, due to the 1708 Russian administrative reform , Izium was assigned to Azov Governorate . In 1718, it was reassigned to Belgorod Province inside Kiev Governorate . In 1765, after the Izium Regiment was converted into a regular Russian hussar regiment as part of the abolition of

1045-571: A year after the end of Russian occupation, Izium was still scarred and its people traumatized by war. Most of the city's schools were destroyed in the battles, and were planned to open by the start of 2024, so most students had to attend through online school technology. The hospital still bore heavy damage from a missile strike, and urgent surgeries were held in a "small, dank room in the basement" due to fear of Shahed drone attacks. One resident said, "People still haven’t recovered from this psychological trauma[.] This feeling of total fear that came with

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1140-430: Is " Dfb ", warm summer continental climate. The factories of Izium produce optical equipment, mechanical components, concrete products, building materials, and foodstuffs. Other industries include railroad repair and brewing. According to the 2001 Ukrainian census , the native languages of Izium residents were 74.22% Ukrainian , 23.77% Russian , and 2.01% other/undecided. The same census data concluded that over 80% of

1235-714: Is a reference to the Donets Ridge ; the latter is associated with the Donets river. There are numerous definitions of the region's extent. The Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine defines the "small Donbas" as the northern part of Donetsk and the southern part of Luhansk regions of Ukraine, and the attached part of Rostov region of Russia. The historical coal mining region excluded parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts , and included areas in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and Southern Russia . A Euroregion of

1330-475: Is home to a significantly higher number of cities and villages that were named after Communist figures compared to the rest of Ukraine. Despite this portrayal, surveys taken across that decade and during the 1990s showed strong support for remaining within Ukraine and insignificant support for separatism. From the beginning of March 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in

1425-452: The 18th Mechanized Corps  [ ru ] that fought on the Izium bridgehead, died in combat in the southern outskirts of the city. On 13 September 1950, after the end of the war, a monument to Volokh was unveiled in Izium. Until 2022, there was also a street named after Volokh. Izium's population grew rapidly in the 20th century due to its importance as a junction between Kharkiv and

1520-492: The 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive . The area that is now Izium has been inhabited since ancient times. Archeologists have discovered remnants of Mesolithic settlements from the 13th- to 6th-century BC, and Neolithic settlements from the fifth- to third-century BC. These finds include ceramic implements and flint tools. The "Bondarisi" archeological tract near Izium gives its name to the Bondarikha culture . The territory

1615-459: The Commonwealth of Independent States . Close to 90% of voters voted in favour of these propositions. None of them were adopted since the vote was nationwide. Ukraine remained a unitary state , Ukrainian was retained as the sole official language, and the Donbas gained no autonomy. Nevertheless, the Donbas strikers gained many economic concessions from Kyiv, allowing for an alleviation of

1710-463: The Donbas . In January 1989 the population was 64,334 people, up from 12,000 in 1926. During the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election , more than 85% of people in Izium voted for Victor Yanukovych . In January 2013, Izium's population was 51,511 people. Deutsche Welle (DW) reported in April 2014 that during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine , there was only one attempt to hoist the Russian flag on any government buildings in Izium. Many of

1805-479: The Russo-Ukrainian War . The conflict was thus, in the words of historian Hiroaki Kuromiya, "secretly engineered and cleverly camouflaged by outsiders". There was limited support for separatism in the Donbas before the outbreak of the war, and little evidence of support for an armed uprising. Russian claims that Russian speakers in the Donbas were being persecuted or even subjected to " genocide " by

1900-667: The Salnytsia  [ ru ] river. The larger conflict between the East Slavs and the Cumans  [ ru ] continued until the early 13th century. The area around Izium was devastated in the 1240s by the Mongol Empire and its invasion of the already collapsing Kievan Rus. Settlement of the region by Slavs did not resume until the late 15th century, after the creation of a new centralized East Slavic state in

1995-686: The Soviet Union . Turnout was 76.7% in Donetsk Oblast and 80.7% in Luhansk Oblast. In October 1991, a congress of South-Eastern deputies from all levels of government took place in Donetsk, where delegates demanded federalisation. The region's economy deteriorated severely in the ensuing years. By 1993, industrial production had collapsed, and average wages had fallen by 80% since 1990. The Donbas fell into crisis, with many accusing

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2090-511: The Ukrainian government . Amid that conflict, the self-proclaimed republics held referendums on the status of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts on 11 May 2014. In the referendums, viewed as illegal by Ukraine and undemocratic by the international community, about 90% voted for the independence of the DPR and LPR. The initial protests in the Donbas were largely native expressions of discontent with

2185-413: The battle of Donbas began, a Russian offensive in mid-2022 within the larger eastern Ukraine campaign . By September 2024, Russia had control of about 80% of the region. According to the 2001 census, ethnic Ukrainians form 58% of the population of Luhansk Oblast and 56.9% of Donetsk Oblast. Ethnic Russians form the largest minority, accounting for 39% and 38.2% of the two oblasts respectively. In

2280-417: The battle of Izium . Its importance as a rail hub made it an important target for the invading Russian military . On 9 March, Russian forces used a large airborne munition on a civilian apartment building in Izium, killing at least 44 civilians in what Human Rights Watch called one of the deadliest attacks on civilians during the war . Russia gained control over Izium on 1 April 2022. Russian soldiers used

2375-562: The okruha system in the Ukrainian SSR , Izium Okruha was abolished and replaced with Izium Raion , which was subordinated directly to the federal government of Soviet Ukraine. In 1932, Izium and Izium Raion were assigned to the newly created Kharkiv Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR. Izium was incorporated as a city of oblast significance ; while Izium served as the administrative center of the raion, it did not belong to it, being subordinated directly to Kharkiv Oblast. Izium suffered under

2470-528: The "Donbas clan", a group of people that controlled economic and political power in the region. Prominent members of the "clan" included Viktor Yanukovych and Rinat Akhmetov . A brief attempt at gaining autonomy by pro-Viktor Yanukovych politicians and officials was made in 2004 during the Orange Revolution . The so-called South-East Ukrainian Autonomous Republic was intended to consist out of nine South - Eastern regions of Ukraine. The project

2565-464: The "Lyceum No. 2" school as a base. The director of the school was one of the residents of Izium accused of collaborating with Russia , and would later be put on trial in Kharkiv by Ukraine after the end of occupation. On 3 April 2022, the Ukrainian government stated that two Russian soldiers were killed and 28 others hospitalized after Ukrainian civilians handed out poisoned cakes to Russian soldiers of

2660-462: The 2000s, the Donbas was often perceived as having a "thug culture", as being a "Soviet cesspool", and as "backward". Writing in the Narodne slovo newspaper in 2005, commentator Viktor Tkachenko said that the Donbas was home to " fifth columns ", and that speaking Ukrainian in the region was "not safe for one's health and life". It was also portrayed as being home to pro-Russian separatism. The Donbas

2755-590: The Cossack system in Sloboda Ukraine , Izium received city status and was assigned to Sloboda Ukraine Governorate of the recently-proclaimed Russian Empire . Starting in 1780, Izium was the administrative center of Izyumsky Uyezd . Izyumsky Uyezd was originally a subdivision of Kharkov Viceroyalty in 1780, but was transferred to the reformed Sloboda Ukraine Governorate in 1796. In 1809, construction began on Saint Nicholas's church in Izium. Construction

2850-718: The Crimeans in the area in the 16th and 17th centuries before the official founding of the city, passing near the future location of Izium. In response, Muscovy built fortifications in the Sloboda Ukraine region, like the Belgorod line  [ ru ] (1635–1658) and the Izium line  [ uk ] (1679–80), causing the Izium Trail to fall into disuse and easing invader pressure on Muscovy's border. In 1681,

2945-411: The Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War . The word Donbas is a portmanteau formed from " Donets Basin ", an abbreviation of " Donets Coal Basin " ( Ukrainian : Донецький вугільний басейн , romanized :  Donetskyi vuhilnyi basein ; Russian : Донецкий угольный бассейн , romanized :  Donetskiy ugolnyy basseyn ). The name of the coal basin

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3040-522: The Donbas and its population into Ukraine. The plan would give Russian-backed political entities partial control of the electorate and has been described by Zerkalo Nedeli as "implanting a cancerous cell into Ukraine's body." This was never implemented, and was subject to public protest. A 2018 survey by Sociological Group "Rating" of residents of the Ukrainian-controlled parts of the Donbas found that 82% of respondents believed there

3135-463: The Donbas autonomous status, whilst 34% supported a ceasefire and "freezing" the conflict, 23% supported military action to recover the occupied Donbas territories, and 6% supported separating these territories from Ukraine. On 21 February 2022, Russia officially recognised the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics, effectively killing the Minsk agreements . Russia subsequently launched

3230-421: The Donbas became gripped by pro-Russian and anti-government unrest . This unrest later grew into a war between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists affiliated with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk "People's Republics", who were supported by Russia as part of the broader Russo-Ukrainian War . The conflict split the Donbas into Ukrainian-held territory, constituting about two-thirds of

3325-435: The Donbas was largely unpopulated until the second half of the 17th century, when Don Cossacks established the first permanent settlements in the region. The first town in the region was founded in 1676, called Solanoye (now Soledar ), which was built for the profitable business of exploiting newly discovered rock-salt reserves. Known for being a Cossack land, the " Wild Fields " ( Ukrainian : дике поле , dyke pole ),

3420-465: The Donbas, Russia abandoned what has been called its " hybrid war " approach, and began a conventional invasion of the region. As a result of the Russian invasion, DPR and LPR insurgents regained much of the territory they had lost during the Ukrainian government's preceding military offensive. Only this Russian intervention prevented an immediate Ukrainian resolution to the conflict. This forced

3515-729: The Donbas, as part of the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and the Euromaidan movement. These demonstrations, which followed the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation , and which were part of a wider group of concurrent pro-Russian protests across southern and eastern Ukraine , escalated in April 2014 into a war between the Russian-backed separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR respectively), and

3610-595: The Donbas. According to linguist George Shevelov , in the early 1920s the proportion of secondary schools teaching in the Ukrainian language was lower than the proportion of ethnic Ukrainians in the Donbas – even though the Soviet Union had ordered that all schools in the Ukrainian SSR should be Ukrainian-speaking (as part of its Ukrainization policy). Surveys of regional identities in Ukraine have shown that around 40% of Donbas residents claim to have

3705-620: The Donbas. A subject of continuing research controversies, and often denied in these two oblasts, is the extent of forced emigration and deaths during the Soviet period, which particularly affected rural Ukrainians during the Holodomor which resulted as a consequence of early Soviet industrialization policies combined with two years of drought throughout southern Ukraine and the Volga region. Nearly all Ukrainian Jews either fled or were murdered in

3800-742: The Donbas. Other large cities (over 100,000 inhabitants) include Mariupol , Luhansk , Makiivka , Horlivka , Kramatorsk , Sloviansk , Alchevsk , Sievierodonetsk , and Lysychansk . The Kurgan hypothesis places the Pontic steppes of Ukraine and southern Russia as the linguistic homeland of the Proto-Indo-Europeans . The Yamnaya culture is identified with the late Proto-Indo-Europeans. The region has been inhabited for centuries by various nomadic tribes, such as Scythians , Alans , Huns , Bulgars , Pechenegs , Kipchaks , Turco-Mongols , Tatars and Nogais . The region now known as

3895-694: The Holocaust in Ukraine during the German occupation in World War II . The Donbas is about 6% Muslim according to the official censuses of 1926 and 2001 . Prior to the Revolution of Dignity, the politics of the region were dominated by the pro-Russian Party of Regions , which gained about 50% of Donbas votes in the 2008 Ukrainian parliamentary election . Prominent members of that party, such as former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, were from

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3990-601: The Russian 3rd Motor Rifle Division in Izium. In May 2022, Russian forces attempted to cross the Siverskyi Donets River and advance south. According to the British Ministry of Defense , Ukrainian forces rebuffed the attempted river crossing with substantial Russian losses. Residents of Izium said they were imprisoned, and tortured by Russian soldiers during the occupation. The June 2022 shooting of Andrii Bohomaz by Russian soldiers in Izium during

4085-569: The Russian Empire. Izium changed hands several times during the Russian Civil War between 1918 and 1920, before finally being taken by the victorious Bolsheviks , who established the Soviet Union on the territory of the former Russian Empire. In 1923, Izium became the administrative center of the newly formed Izium Okruha  [ uk ] inside the Ukrainian SSR . In 1930, in accordance with republic-wide abolition of

4180-651: The Russian-speaking worker class. In April 1918 troops loyal to the Ukrainian People's Republic took control of large parts of the region. For a while, its government bodies operated in the Donbas alongside their Russian Provisional Government equivalents. The Ukrainian State , the successor of the Ukrainian People's Republic, was able in May 1918 to bring the region under its control for

4275-473: The Ukrainian government, forcing its hand to intervene, were deemed false by Voice of America . Fighting continued through the summer of 2014, and by August 2014, the Ukrainian "Anti-Terrorist Operation" was able to vastly shrink the territory under the control of the pro-Russian forces, and came close to regaining control of the Russo-Ukrainian border. In response to the deteriorating situation in

4370-470: The Ukrainian side to seek the signing of a ceasefire agreement. Called the Minsk Protocol , this was signed on 5 September 2014. As this failed to stop the fighting, another agreement, called Minsk II was signed on 12 February 2015. This agreement called for the eventual reintegration of the Donbas republics into Ukraine, with a level of autonomy. The aim of the Russian intervention in the Donbas

4465-733: The area that is now called the Donbas was largely under the control of the Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate and the Turkic Crimean Khanate until the mid-late 18th century, when the Russian Empire conquered the Hetmanate and annexed the Khanate. In the second half of the 17th century, settlers and fugitives from Hetman's Ukraine and Muscovy settled the lands north of the Donets river. At

4560-667: The border with Wild Field followed the defeat of the troops of Bogdan Khmelnytsky in the Battle of Berestechko in 1651. The western part of the Polish-Moscow treaty was reaffirmed by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky publishes a versatile person that allowed the population to relocate to the land of the Moscow kingdom. After the death of hetman Bohdan Khmelnitsky, authority passed into

4655-422: The city that previously held names affiliated with communism and with Russia . Among others, the street named after Pyotr Volokh was renamed to honor Hetman Pavlo Polubotok . Unexploded ordnance has posed a major threat to Izium's population, even months after the battle. In March 2023, a local doctor said that on average, the hospital received a person with wounds from landmines every week. In September 2023,

4750-463: The city's main exports were wool, sold to Kharkiv and Poltava , and building materials sold to Taganrog . It had a population of 14,761 people. In 1910, the Kharkiv-Donbas railway that passed through the city was built. In 1916, in accordance with an edict by Tsar Nicholas II , the construction of an optical glass plant began in Izium. This was the first optical glass plant to be built in

4845-507: The city's population were ethnic Ukrainians and roughly 13% were Russians . Other significant minorities were Belarusians and Armenians . The exact ethnic composition was as follows: Deutsche Welle , reporting in 2014, said that most of the people in Izium were ethnic Ukrainians , but the Russian language was the most common language of communication on the streets. It is the second most populous city in Kharkiv Oblast behind

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4940-454: The coal industry led to a population boom in the region, largely driven by Russian settlers. Donetsk , the most important city in the region today, was founded in 1869 by Welsh businessman John Hughes on the site of the old Zaporozhian Cossack town of Oleksandrivka. Hughes built a steel mill and established several collieries in the region. The city was named after him as Yuzivka (Ukrainian: Юзівка ) or Yuzovka (Russian: Юзовка ). With

5035-495: The conflict broke out in 2014, the Ukrainian government registered 1.6 million internally displaced people who had fled the Donbas to other parts of Ukraine. Over 1 million were said to have fled elsewhere, mostly to Russia. At the time of the report, 2.7 million people were said to continue to live in areas under DPR and LPR control, comprising about one-third of the Donbas. Despite the Minsk agreements, low-intensity fighting along

5130-527: The congress, claiming to represent over 35 million citizens. Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov and an advisor from the Russian Embassy were present in the presidium. There were calls for the appointment of Viktor Yanukovych as president of Ukraine or prime minister , for declaring of martial law in Ukraine, dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada , creation of self-defence forces, and for the creation of

5225-534: The country, was converted into a plain hromada . On 18 July 2020, the city of Izium, along with the rest of the hromada, was subordinated to Izium Raion, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine. The area of Izium Raion was also significantly expanded to include the area of several other raions, which reduced the number of raions of Kharkiv Oblast to seven. During the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine , Russia began trying to take Izium in March 2022, beginning

5320-653: The course of the occupation. In Voroshilovgrad Oblast, now Luhansk Oblast , 45,649 were killed. In 1943 the Operation Little Saturn and Donbas strategic offensive by the Red Army resulted in the return of Donbas to Soviet control. The war had taken its toll, leaving the region both destroyed and depopulated. During the reconstruction of the Donbas after the end of the Second World War, large numbers of Russian workers arrived to repopulate

5415-506: The development of Yuzovka and similar cities, large numbers of landless peasants from peripheral governorates of the Russian Empire came looking for work. According to the Russian Imperial Census of 1897, Ukrainians (" Little Russians ", in the official imperial language) accounted for 52.4% of the population of the region, whilst ethnic Russians constituted 28.7%. Ethnic Greeks, Germans , Jews and Tatars also had

5510-482: The economic crisis in the region. Small strikes continued throughout the 1990s, though demands for autonomy faded. Some subsidies to Donbas heavy industries were eliminated, and many mines were closed by the Ukrainian government because of liberalising reforms pushed for by the World Bank . Leonid Kuchma , who had won the 1994 presidential election with support from the Donbas and other areas in eastern Ukraine,

5605-604: The end of the 18th century, many Russians , Ukrainians , Serbs and Greeks migrated to lands along the southern course of the Donets river, into an area previously inhabited by nomadic Nogais , who were nominally subject to the Crimean Khanate. Tsarist Russia named the conquered territories " New Russia " (Russian: Новороссия , Novorossiya ). As the Industrial Revolution took hold across Europe,

5700-763: The form of the Principality of Moscow , more intensified settlement took place on the banks of the Donets river. As the Principality of Moscow evolved into the Tsardom of Russia , there was an effort to secure the southern border of the East Slavic lands, to stop the "devastating" attacks by the Crimean Tatars . The Izium Trail , one of the branches of the Muravsky Trail , was a warpath of

5795-435: The hands of hetman Ivan Vyhovsky . A period of civil war (1657-1658) began between supporters of the Moscow and Polish courses, the so-called " The Ruin ". The population once again began to move to calmer areas under the authority of the Moscow tsars. At the head of the regiment were elected colonels and regimental starshina (officers). They were chosen not for a limited time, but for life. However, they could be deprived of

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5890-433: The liberated city, local police officers found mass graves of 440 bodies in Izium. According to city officials, by the end of the occupation, more than 80% of the city's infrastructure was destroyed; about 70% of multi-storey buildings are destroyed. The city administration estimates that all in all, about 1,000 people lost their lives under the Russian occupation. In December 2022, Izium decided to rename 22 street names in

5985-410: The line of contact between Ukrainian government and Russian-controlled areas continued until 2022. Since the start of the conflict there have been 29 ceasefires, each intended to remain in force indefinitely, but none of them stopped the violence. This led the war to be referred to as a " frozen conflict ". On 11 January 2017, the Ukrainian government approved a plan to reintegrate the occupied part of

6080-443: The local " Lenin Square" was renamed " John Lennon Square" in February 2016. Izium urban hromada  [ uk ] was formed on 14 June 2019, as an amalgamated hromada with its administrative center in Izium by uniting the Izium city council  [ uk ] with a nearby village council. On 12 June 2020, the hromada was expanded to include several other local councils, and, along with all other amalgamated hromadas in

6175-501: The most expensive learning errors for the Red Army. Izium was occupied by the German Army starting on 24 June 1942. The Germans operated a Nazi prison in the city. Izium was liberated by the Red Army on 5 February 1943. In mid-March 1943, German troops attacked Izium again, but were unsuccessful, according to Soviet sources. There were more clashes near the city in summer 1943, during the Izyum–Barvenkovo offensive . Soviet Lieutenant General Pyotr Volokh  [ ru ] , commander of

6270-405: The new Ukrainian government. Russian involvement at this stage was limited to its voicing of support for the demonstrations. The emergence of the separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk began as a small fringe group of the protesters, independent of Russian control. This unrest, however, only evolved into an armed conflict because of Russian military backing for what had been a marginal group as part of

6365-491: The new central government in Kyiv of mismanagement and neglect. Donbas coal miners went on strike in 1993, causing a conflict that was described by historian Lewis Siegelbaum as "a struggle between the Donbas region and the rest of the country". One strike leader said that Donbas people had voted for independence because they wanted "power to be given to the localities, enterprises, cities", not because they wanted heavily centralised power moved from "Moscow to Kyiv". This strike

6460-469: The oblast center Kharkiv . On April 17, 2023, Izium formed a Sister City partnership with Greenwich, Connecticut , USA. Donbas The Donbas ( UK : / d ɒ n ˈ b ɑː s / , US : / ˈ d ɒ n b ɑː s , d ʌ n ˈ b æ s / ; Ukrainian : Донбас [donˈbɑs] ; ) or Donbass ( Russian : Донбасс [dɐnˈbas] ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine . The majority of

6555-443: The occupation was featured in Lubomir Levitski's documentary Follow Me . Ukraine began a counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region in early September 2022, during which Izium was liberated. During the frantic Russian retreat, the Russian soldiers "completely gutted" the school that served as their base, looting "anything of possible value", including water heaters and small sinks from each classroom. After Ukrainian troops secured

6650-493: The occupation — it hasn’t disappeared." Izium is located at the foot of the Kremenets  [ uk ] Mountain, on the right bank of the Donets river. On top of the mountain, there are several ancient Polovtsian ( Cuman ) stone statues known as "stone babas", dating from the ninth- to the thirteenth-century. The statues were heavily damaged during the battle of Izium in 2022, with one being completely destroyed. The Köppen climate classification subtype for this climate

6745-437: The people who had voted for Yanukovych in 2010 still supported him amidst the Euromaidan protests that ousted him. Most of the people DW interviewed supported some kind of federalization of Ukraine , or united Ukraine, and did not support the idea of joining the Russian Federation . A local government official said that out of the approximately 50,000 inhabitants, Izium had "a maximum of 200 active pro-Russian people". Izium

6840-529: The position by the Russian tsar (later the emperor), or by a decision of the assembly of the elders. The colonel of the Slobodsky Cossack regiment represented both administrative and military power. The colonel had the right to issue decrees, with his signature - universal . The symbol of the colonel's power was a pernach , a regimental crown, a colonel seal. The regimental starshina (headquarters) consisted of six people: an obozni (quartermaster),

6935-476: The present day, the Donbas is a predominately Russophone region . According to the 2001 census, Russian is the main language of 74.9% of residents in Donetsk Oblast and 68.8% in Luhansk Oblast. Residents of Russian origin are mainly concentrated in the larger urban centers. Russian became the main language and lingua franca in the course of industrialization, boosted by the immigration of many Russians, particularly from Kursk Oblast , to newly founded cities in

7030-603: The region were subjected to decossackisation during 1919–1921. Ukrainians in the Donbas were greatly affected by the 1932–33 Holodomor famine and the Russification policy of Joseph Stalin . As most ethnic Ukrainians were rural peasant farmers, they bore the brunt of the famine. The Donbas was greatly affected by the Second World War . In the lead-up to the war, the region was racked by poverty and food shortages. War preparations resulted in an extension of

7125-474: The region, and separatist-held territory, constituting about one-third. The region remained this way for years until Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine . On 30 September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared its annexation of Donbas together with two other Ukrainian oblasts, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia . The city of Donetsk (the fifth largest city in Ukraine) is considered the unofficial capital of

7220-455: The region, further altering the population balance. In 1926, 639,000 ethnic Russians resided in the Donbas, and Ukrainians made up 60% of the population. As a result of the Russification policy, the Ukrainian population of the Donbass then declined drastically as ethnic Russians settled in the region in large numbers. By 1959, the ethnic Russian population was 2.55 million. Russification

7315-688: The region. In 1684, Izium's Transfiguration Cathedral was built. Starting in 1685, Izium served as the seat of the Izium Regiment  [ uk ] within Sloboda Ukraine Governorate . Residents of Izium took part in the Bulavin Rebellion of 1707-1708. On 7 October 1707, not far from Izium, a detachment of salt workers from Bakhmut and Cossacks led by Kondraty Bulavin defeated a Tsarist punitive expedition heading to Bakhmut. In summer 1708, Bulavin sent

7410-586: The repressions of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin . As a result of the Holodomor , a manmade famine in Soviet Ukraine between 1932 and 1933, 2,761 people from Izium are documented to have died. During World War II , Izium was the site of numerous important battles. A Red Army salient was cut off by counterattacking German forces during the Second Battle of Kharkiv and was eliminated in one of

7505-629: The same name is composed of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in Ukraine and Rostov Oblast in Russia . The Donbas formed the historical border between the Zaporizhian Sich and the Don Cossack Host . It has been an important coal mining area since the late 19th century, when it became a heavily industrialised territory. In March 2014, following the Euromaidan protest movement and the resulting Revolution of Dignity , large swaths of

7600-505: The separatists, Izium was used as a base for operations by the Ukrainian military . Large-scale fighting in the proximity of Izium halted once Ukrainian forces liberated Sloviansk in July 2014. On 30 September 2014, a monument to Vladimir Lenin in Izium was destroyed by unknown persons. This came as part of a larger trend of demolition of monuments to Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine . To comply with nationwide decommunization laws enacted in 2016,

7695-608: The territory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place against the backdrop of uninterrupted military operations in the Dnieper and Western Ukraine, burdened by punitive expeditions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as by fratricidal civil war involving foreign troops (Tatars and Turks). The first wave of immigrants from the Right Bank Ukraine to the territory of the Moscow kingdom to

7790-407: The vast coal resources of the region, discovered in 1721, began to be exploited in the mid-late 19th century. It was at this point that the name Donbas came into use, derived from the term "Donets Coal Basin" (Ukrainian: Донецький вугільний басейн ; Russian: Донецкий каменноугольный бассейн ), referring to the area along the Donets river where most of the coal reserves were found. The rise of

7885-446: The word for " raisin ", but historian V. V. Markin argues that this is a coincidence, and any connection to a supposed Turkic word meaning "raisin" is false etymology . Markin notes that it would have probably been impossible to grow grapes in the area, making such a name illogical, and argues that such a word "huzun" meaning "raisin" does not exist in any Turkic language. Izium grew to be an important defense against Tatar invasions of

7980-486: The working day for factory labourers, whilst those who deviated from the heightened standards were arrested. Nazi Germany 's leader Adolf Hitler viewed the resources of the Donbas as critical to Operation Barbarossa . As such, the Donbas suffered under Nazi occupation during 1941 and 1942. Thousands of industrial labourers were deported to Nazi Germany for use in factories. In what was then called Stalino Oblast , now Donetsk Oblast , 279,000 civilians were killed over

8075-405: Was built on the banks of, or from a Tatar word "izzun" meaning "long", or "elongated". According to historical materials, it is likely that a Tatar settlement existed on nearby Mount Kremenets  [ uk ] as early as the 14th century, which makes it likely that the name of the town has some sort of Tatar origin. In Ukrainian and Russian , the town's name is spelled the exact same way as

8170-403: Was finished in 1823, and today the church is one of Izium's most notable architectural features. In 1835, Izyumsky Uyezd was transferred again, this time to Kharkov Governorate . By the 18th and 19th centuries, Izium was considered one of the largest economic centers in the Sloboda Ukraine region. By the 1880s, factories producing bricks, vodka, butter, lard, and wax operated in Izium. By 1884,

8265-464: Was followed by a 1994 consultative referendum on various constitutional questions in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, held concurrently with the first parliamentary elections in independent Ukraine. These questions included whether Russian should be declared an official language of Ukraine, whether Russian should be the language of administration in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, whether Ukraine should federalise, and whether Ukraine should have closer ties with

8360-631: Was further advanced by the 1958–59 Soviet educational reforms, which led to the near elimination of all Ukrainian-language schooling in the Donbas. By the time of the Soviet Census of 1989 , 45% of the population of the Donbas reported their ethnicity as Russian. In 1990, the Interfront of the Donbass was founded as a movement against Ukrainian independence. In the 1991 referendum on Ukrainian independence, 83.9% of voters in Donetsk Oblast and 83.6% in Luhansk Oblast supported independence from

8455-644: Was initiated on 26 November 2004 by the Luhansk Oblast Council, and was discontinued the next month by the Donetsk Oblast Council. On 28 November 2004, in Sievierodonetsk , the so-called First All-Ukraine Congress of People's Deputies And Local-Council's Deputies took place, organised by the supporters of Viktor Yanukovych. A total of 3,576 delegates from 16 oblasts of Ukraine, Crimea and Sevastopol took part in

8550-477: Was later part of the ancient East Slavic state Kievan Rus . In the 12th century AD Kievan Rus began to disintegrate, leading to increased incursions by Cuman nomads. In the year 1111, the territory that is now modern Izium was the site of the Battle of the Salnytsia River  [ uk ] , in which the East Slavs, led by Vladimir II Monomakh and Sviatopolk II of Kiev , defeated a Cuman army on

8645-416: Was no discrimination against Russian-speaking people in Ukraine. Only 11% saw some evidence of discrimination. The same survey also found that 71% of respondents did not support Russia's military intervention to "protect" the Russian-speaking population, with only 9% offering support for that action. Another survey by Rating, conducted in 2019, found that only 23% of those Ukrainians polled supported granting

8740-454: Was one of five territorial-administrative subdivisions of the Sloboda Ukraine . The regiment's capital was the city of Kharkiv , now in Kharkiv Oblast of Eastern Ukraine . The Kharkiv Regiment appeared between 1651 and 1659 years. In 1732 it consisted of 19 sotnias . In 1765, the sloboda regiments was abolished, and its territory was reformed into the Sloboda Ukraine Governorate . The settlement of future regimental lands by settlers from

8835-408: Was re-elected as president of Ukraine in 1999 . President Kuchma gave economic aid to the Donbas, using development money to gain political support in the region. Power in the Donbas became concentrated in a regional political elite, known as oligarchs , during the early 2000s. Privatisation of state industries led to rampant corruption. Regional historian Hiroaki Kuromiya described this elite as

8930-502: Was the site of sporadic fighting during the beginning of the war in Donbas in 2014. The Sloviansk-Izium highway was referred to as the "highway of death" by locals during the summer of 2014 due to constant shelling from pro-Russian separatists. Izium was seen as an important link between separatist-held Sloviansk and Kharkiv, which also had active pro-Russian movements, and there were fears that separatists would move in that direction. During Ukraine's Siege of Sloviansk to reclaim it from

9025-501: Was to establish pro-Russian governments that, upon reincorporation into Ukraine, would facilitate Russian interference in Ukrainian politics. The Minsk agreements were thus highly favourable to the Russian side, as their implementation would accomplish these goals. The conflict led to a vast exodus from the Donbas: half the region's population were forced to flee their homes. A UN OHCHR report released on 3 March 2016 stated that, since

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